


Chemistry

by payneful_chonce



Category: Fifth Harmony (Band), Little Mix (Band), One Direction (Band)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-22
Updated: 2016-04-22
Packaged: 2018-06-03 18:49:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6622192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/payneful_chonce/pseuds/payneful_chonce
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which a librarian and a dorky student come together through Shakespeare plays and pizza.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chemistry

Perrie was sitting behind the information counter, working on one of her Advanced Fiction Writing assignments when someone cleared their throat. Perrie looked up expectantly. “Yes?”   
“Um, I kinda lost my Chemistry textbook and I was wondering if you have it here.” Perrie would say that the girl who spoke was quite gorgeous in a girl-next-door sort of way with those long-lashed brown eyes, shy smile and wavy ombre hair. Perrie flashed the girl a friendly smile and stood up.   
“Sure, what’s the title?”   
The girl looked slightly embarrassed as she shuffled on her feet. A red color rose in her sun-kissed cheeks. “See, I don’t actually remember the name of the textbook. Only that it’s about chemistry.”   
Perrie frowned slightly. “There are at least four shelves of chemistry textbooks in this library.”   
“If it helps, the book has a black cover. And there’s the word ‘Chemistry’ on it.” Perrie almost rolled her eyes at the other girl’s response. No shit.   
“Four shelves of chemistry books,” Perrie repeated. “And about a third of them have black covers.”   
“Well, if it’s such an inconvenience for you I can-”   
“No, it’s fine. I’ll help ya.” Perrie poked her head into the office, whisper-shouting for the substitute reference librarian Leigh-Anne to take her place.   
She had a feeling that this was going to take a long time. 

An hour and two shelves of books later, their search turned out fruitless. The girl had shook her head at each black chemistry book Perrie had pulled out for her, and Perrie’s frustration and impatience was steadily growing. “How about you ask your chemistry professor or one of your friends for the title of the book so I can find it for you.”   
The brunette blushed. “Oh, right.”   
Perrie shoved the last book in the shelf and leaned against it, trying to catch her breath and not yell at the scatterbrained girl next to her. “So just go back to the reference counter and ask the librarian to help you if you have the title of the book, okay?”   
“Okay.” The brunette took a sudden interest in her shoes, not looking up until the blonde girl had disappeared from her sight. Sighing out, she put her hands in her pockets and wrapped her parka around herself before exiting the library with one last glance behind her.   
Perrie was watching her absently, with a slight smile on her face. Their eyes met, and the brunette quickly blushed and hurried away, embarrassed of herself. 

“Blondie, someone’s in Section D watching some videos without headphones on, you better tell them off.”   
Perrie swiveled around in her chair and grimaced at Harry, who was a senior and technically her boss and liked to call her “Blondie” because she hated that nickname. “Stop calling me that,” she snapped and did a double take when she looked at the monitor.   
Although the screen was small and quite blurry, Perrie could tell that it was that girl again, that girl who was looking for her chemistry book a few days ago. Perrie had assumed that the brunette had probably asked another reference librarian to find the book out of embarrassment, and it made her feel a bit sad to think that somebody was intimidated by her.   
“Blondieeeee,” Harry repeated again playfully. Perrie rolled her eyes and took one last look at the monitor before heading off to Section D - the study area. It was mostly empty as it was a Saturday night and everybody was off partying, but since Perrie didn’t really have an active social life and needed money, she worked as a reference librarian in the university library every night.   
She recognised a few regulars who were shooting the girl dirty looks as the sound blared loudly from the the brunette’s laptop speakers. Perrie stood there for a moment, watching two bunnies snuggle against each other from behind the brunette’s shoulder.   
“I should probably yell at you or make you get out of here, but they’re really cute baby animals,” Perrie said with a smile as the brunette whirled around, an expression of pure shock on her face. When she realised it was just Perrie, heat rose to her cheeks and she glanced away, quickly slamming the lid down on the laptop. Perrie’s smile turned amused as she watched the flustered brunette take a deep breath and offer a shaky smile in return.   
“I’m sorry.”   
The regulars at the library breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to whatever they were doing.   
“It’s fine, just don’t do that again….have you found your textbook yet?” For some reason, Perrie wanted to be friends with this girl. Although the brunette was kind of weird, Perrie didn’t see any harm in befriending her.   
And she had to admit that something was drawing her to the brunette like the moon is drawn to the earth.   
“Ye-Yeah,” the brunette stammered. “The curly-haired guy helped me with that. Thank you.”   
Perrie rolled her eyes as she thought of Harry. He had to be up to no good. The curly-haired boy always teased her about firing her, and although Perrie knew he was just joking, she was always on her guard around him.   
“Yeah, you’re welcome….” Perrie trailed off, looking at the other girl expectantly.   
“...Jade. Jade Thirlwall.” She had a hand placed on the lid of her laptop, like she was afraid that Perrie might steal it.   
“I’m Perrie.” Perrie rocked back and forth on her feet awkwardly and cleared her throat when Jade didn’t say anything. “I should probably get back to work.”   
“What time do you normally work here?” Just as Perrie turned to leave, Jade spoke up, her big brown eyes riveted on Perrie.   
“Nights on weekdays, whole day on Saturday.” Perrie gave her a tight, awkward smile and walked off. 

Perrie hummed to herself and twirled around in a circle in time to Aerosmith as she dusted a shelf carelessly. Her iPod dangled slightly out of her pocket, and the earbuds were plugged securely in her ears. She turned around and placed Fight Club on the shelf and reached for another book.   
Somehow, Jade was always on her mind. Perrie didn’t know why her eyes always searched for that shade of brown hair whenever someone entered the library. She didn’t know why she got reminded of Jade whenever someone returned a chemistry textbook. These thoughts were clouding her mind, so she pushed them away and sang along softly to the song while rocking out an air guitar, air drums and head-banging at the same time.   
She liked to imagine that she was some sort of star on a stage with lights beaming down on her and the audience cheering her on.   
“I don’t wanna close my eyes, I don’t wanna fall asleep, cause…”   
Perrie trailed off awkwardly as her blue eyes met the brown ones that were always haunting her thoughts. Her cheeks instantly became rose red at the prospect of someone seeing her while she was singing and rocking out silently to herself. “Do you need anything?”   
She didn’t mean to sound mean or intimidating or any of the sort, she was just sort of stunned that of all people, Jade Thirlwall had walked in on her acting like a dork. Jade’s eyes widened and she backed away, shaking her head. “N-Nothing, I was j-just passing by...you have a really nice voice.” Her voice was soft and shy and she looked down to the ground.   
“Thank you, I suppose,” Perrie said, scratching her neck. “Do me a favor, would ya?”   
Jade raised her head, giving Perrie that puppy-eyed look again, and nodded.   
Perrie felt her heart skip a beat. “Please don’t tell my boss, he’d never let me hear the end of it anyway.” And please don’t judge me.   
A smile cracked on Jade’s face and she nodded, fidgeting with her hands. Perrie studied her for a while. Unlike their last two encounters, Jade was wearing glasses, and she kept having to brush her hair away from her eyes. Perrie found the movement adorable, but she forced herself to look away.   
“So, uh, what do you major in,” Perrie tried to make small talk as she quickly reshelved all of the books, her iPod long forgotten. Jade didn’t seem like she was in a hurry anyway.   
“Chemical engineering...I’m flunking most of my classes anyways…” Jade sat down on the polished wooden floor and sighed.  
“How so?” Perrie sat down next to Jade, whose left thigh brushed against Perrie’s slightly, a contrast of honey and porcelain.   
“I dunno...I just fall asleep.” Jade tucked in her knees and stared blankly at the shelf in front of her, her expression so lost that even Perrie felt bad for her.   
Perrie tilted her head. “Go to sleep earlier then.”   
“I can’t...I’m up all night studying already.” Jade took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes tiredly.   
“What grades do you have?” Perrie asked, already expecting the answer. She had a hunch that Jade was one of those perfectionists that thought getting a B meant the end of the world.   
“Um I got a few A minuses and a B+...like I said I’m failing my classes.” Jade sighed dejectedly and stood up. Perrie quickly rose as well, but as she was about to say something, Jade cut her off.   
“I think I’m going to get my stuff and study in here. Bye,” Jade said softly as she trudged away from Perrie, whose gaze was focused on how Jade’s thin shoulders nearly caved in on herself. She felt bad for the brunette.   
…  
Perrie rubbed at her eyes sleepily as her head drooped. Leigh-Anne had gone home already a few hours ago and it was probably sometime near twelve. The library usually closed at twelve so Perrie scanned over the deserted area in front of her. There were usually a few stragglers, so she sat there and tidied up the reference counter before slinging her bag over her shoulders.   
“Goodnight Harry,” she whispered to the male who was snoring his head off beside her. Perrie smiled wickedly. Imagine what Harry’s reaction would be when he woke up in the locked library the next morning - payback was a bitch.   
Perrie circled the library a few times and herded the remaining people out of the exits. She had a feeling that she was missing something….oh right! Her iPod. The blonde girl hefted her bag over her shoulder again and headed towards the stacks, hoping that no one had stolen it.   
Perrie had only stepped into the stacks for a moment before noticing the petite figure nestled up in a parka in the corner. Jade’s head rested on a shelf and she was curled in on herself, her brown hair flopping over one eye. Perrie noticed that the brunette had very pink lips which were parted slightly as she inhaled through her nose and exhaled with a little puff through her mouth.   
Perrie realised she was staring like a creep and mentally berated herself before kneeling down next to the sleeping girl. “Jade? We’re closing, you gotta get up unless you want to be locked in all night long.”   
“Mm?” Jade rubbed her eyes and blinked up at Perrie sleepily. Her cheeks turned a light pink and she quickly scrambled to her feet. “I-I’m s-s-sorry-”   
“No, it’s fine,” Perrie chuckled and helped her up. Her pale fingers grasped Jade’s bare arm, liking the warm tingles that spread up her hand. Jade straightened the straps of her tank top and cleared her throat.  
“I’ll see you tomorrow?”   
“Sure,” Perrie said and awkwardly hovered around Jade. “You want me to walk you to the door? I’m heading to the dorms too.”   
“That’d be great.” Jade slung her backpack over her shoulder and walked off, leaving Perrie to follow her a bit too eagerly. The two girls parted at the entrance of the library and walked off in opposite directions.   
It was when Perrie was finally back in her dorm room, lying in her bed and listening to her roommate Jesy snore her head off, when she realised that she forgot to get her iPod from the stacks. 

Perrie almost saw Jade daily after that, although they rarely said anything other than “hi” to each other. Perrie always caught herself watching the brunette enter the library, look over to her for a fleeting second, then walk off to whatever place she was going to be for the rest of the day.   
However, today Perrie was making her usual rounds around the library before it closed for the night, and she had spotted Jade Thirlwall trying to reach the top shelf in vain. The brunette’s t-shirt had lifted a bit as she reached, exposing a section of her tanned, toned midriff, and Perrie instantly looked away, not wanting to seem like a creep.   
But Jade’s antics amused her, and she leant against the bookshelf watching Jade reach for the top shelf again and again. It was clear that the petite brunette was too stubborn to get a stool or anything of the sort, and Perrie watched Jade take a failed running leap for the top shelf before clearing her throat, trying to keep a smile off her face but failing miserably. “Is there something ya need?”   
Jade’s eyes widened and she took a few steps backwards, placing a hand on her mouth. “Stop scaring me!” Then, looking embarrassed of her little outburst, her cheeks burst into that rosy color that Perrie was familiar with. “I-I don’t need anything! It’s fine!” Her gaze kept flicking towards the top shelf, and Perrie could see through the blatantly obvious lie.   
“I know you want that novel,” Perrie said rolling her eyes, and stood up on her tiptoes, just managing to reach the book as she was only slightly taller than Jade. The brunette looked down at her feet and flushed red.   
“Sorry.”   
“Stop being so fucking adorable,” Perrie muttered, not really realising what she just said, and shoved the novel at Jade. “You don’t have to check it out now, I’ll just key it in tomorrow. Come on, I gotta lock the doors.”   
Jade was blushing hard, and she shifted around Perrie awkwardly, clutching her books to her chest. “T-Thanks.”   
“For what?” Perrie asked as they made their way towards the entrance of the library. As the cool night air hit them, cooling Jade’s flushed cheeks, Jade just shrugged.   
“F-F-For calling me adorable, I guess.”   
“Did I really say that?” Now it was Perrie’s turn to flush, and she shoved her hands inside her pockets. She wanted to kick herself. “I thought I just said it in my head.” Perrie shook her head and scuffed her feet on the ground. The stars overhead blinked down at them, and Perrie wanted to stay there forever, just on the library steps with Jade, just like they belonged. 

“So are there other books you like besides from A Song of Ice and Fire,” Perrie tried to make small talk as Jade set three books on the counter. Ever since that night when Perrie helped Jade with getting her book from the top shelf, they hadn’t spoken since, and Perrie found herself missing Jade a lot.   
“Oh, I like Lord of The Rings too,” Jade said as she slid To Kill A Mockingbird to Perrie, who keyed it in before returning it to her.  
“By any chance, do you happen to read Shakespeare,” Perrie handed Jade the last book and leaned back in her chair, trying to read Jade’s expression.   
The brunette just chewed on her lip for a moment before saying, “Shakespeare? He’s stupid.”   
Perrie scrunched up her nose. “Stupid? No, he’s not. I like his plays.”   
“They’re boring. Even this looks better.” Jade gestured at To Kill A Mockingbird, and Perrie grimaced.   
“To Kill A Mockingbird? I’m about To Kill A Jade Thirlwall.”   
Playfully, Jade stuck out her tongue at Perrie, which made the blonde’s heart leap a little. “You’d have to catch me first.”   
“I don’t have time for your uneducated antics,” Perrie teased and went back to her studying, although she could see Jade staring at her from the corner of her eye. “What else do you need?”   
“I’m returning this.” Jade tossed a paperback at Perrie, and it almost hit the blonde girl on the side of her face. Jade flushed and stammered out an apology, while Perrie stared incredulously at the book on the ground. Its pages had been spread out, revealing the pages with the margins filled in by purple pen.   
“The fuck did you do to this book,” Perrie said, horrified as she picked up the paperback. “Please don’t tell me you annotated it in pen.”   
Jade frowned. “Was I not supposed to do that?”   
“No shit!” Perrie stared up at her, wondering how the other girl was such a doofus. “Now what am I going to do!”   
“I’m sorry,” Jade mumbled. She fumbled around in her pockets and brought out a huge wad of cash. “I can pay for it.”   
Perrie pushed it away. “Don’t. I’ll deal with this.” Gingerly, she set the book next to her homework and hunched over it, rewriting her essay in her crampy handwriting.   
Jade hung around the counter. Perrie took note that the Jade she knew 2 weeks ago would get the fuck out of there as soon as possible. “What are you doing?”   
Perrie lifted her head. “Rewriting an essay...what does it look like.”   
“You’re mad, aren’t you?” Jade looked like a puppy that someone had just kicked. “I didn’t mean to, I swear, I was just so tired last night and I had no idea what I was doing.”   
Perrie sighed and set down her pen. “You make my job ten times harder than it already is.”   
Jade flushed an even deeper shade of red. “I-”   
“But I like it.” 

It had been an exhausting day. It was finals week and the library was flooding with tons of students that were desperate to cram before the exams. The reference librarians had been even busier, what with trying to cram for their own tests and helping students find books at the same time.   
Perrie’s eyelids drooped. She had a big exam the next day and she was trying to concentrate, but the usually empty and quiet library had turned into a shouting match. At least a dozen study groups had filled in the tables, and there weren’t even enough reference librarians to shut them all up.   
So Perrie plugged in her ears and tried to concentrate.   
“Helloooooo?” Perrie spun away from Leigh-Anne, who was yelling in her ear. That girl could have a loud voice when she wanted to. “That cute girl right there is looking right at you!”   
“Shut! Up!” Perrie hissed, turning around and blushing red when she saw Jade. The brunette was sitting with her study group, who consisted of a few guys and several girls. “She’s looking at me, yeah, we know each other, so what?”   
Leigh-Anne leaned in and whispered conspiratorially, “We got a card in the suggestions box a few days ago. Said that the reference librarian is super cute. I wonder who it’s for?”  
Perrie snorted. “Not me, that’s for sure.” She turned back to her work and was about to scrap her whole essay before someone cleared their throat.   
Perrie had deja vu as her eyes met Jade’s. “Yes?”   
Jade twisted her fingers together shyly. “Uhh, we’re having pizza...would you like some?”   
Perrie glanced at her, surprised. “Sure. Leigh, cover for me?”   
Leigh-Anne just made kissy noises, which made both Perrie and Jade blush. “Don’t have too much fun, you two!”   
Mortified, Perrie dragged Jade away towards the study table, then stopped when she realised she didn’t know any of the people there.   
“Um, guys, this is Perrie…Perrie, this is Liam, Niall, Louis, Dinah and Ally. We’re in the same engineering class.”   
“Oh, uh, hi,” Perrie said quite awkwardly - the names blurred together in her mind, and she had no doubt that she was going to get them all mixed up.   
“So she’s the super cute librarian you’ve been talking about?” The blonde guy - Perrie had already forgotten his name - raised an eyebrow suggestively.   
Jade just hit him on the shoulder and turned to Perrie. Even her ears had turned a light shade of red. “Excuse Niall, he’s just a bit scatterbrained.”   
“Like you,” Perrie nodded teasingly, while Jade looked away from her, although the shy smile was still on her face.   
“So, uh, help yourself.”  
Although Perrie hated pineapples on pizza, it was still pretty good, especially when there were people to talk to.   
Perrie noticed something as they ate. Jade was obviously different with her study group than she was with Perrie. Jade was the loudest and sassiest person when she joked around with Niall, but she quickly quieted down when she noticed Perrie was watching her with a smile on her face.  
“So, uh, are you doing anything after finals?” Jade whispered quietly to Perrie as they finished their pizza.   
Perrie shrugged. “Probably gonna earn some more money by working. I don’t know...I’ve been working here for a year already.”   
“Oh,” Jade paused, “I was going to come here everyday anyways.” Then she frowned, like she wasn’t supposed to say that.  
“Why are you frowning like that?” Instinctively, Perrie had reached up to smoothen Jade’s frown before she realised what she was doing. Face burning, she dropped her hand to her side, aware that the whole group was staring at her. 

Finals week was finally over. Perrie was sitting at her usual spot at the counter, staring blankly into space. The library had been mostly empty for the past two weeks, because face it, who in their right mind would go to the library after the exams were over?   
The blonde girl wondered where Jade was. True to her promise, the brunette had dropped by every day for at least two hours or so, and Perrie and Jade would head towards their old spot in the stacks. They would sometimes read right beside each other silently, or Perrie read to Jade, or sometimes they just lay there on the polished wooden floor, staring up at the ceiling, bathed in comfortable silence.   
And sometimes they talked. Talked about everything and anything. Sometimes the conversations made no sense, sometimes Perrie would just lie there next to Jade listen to the brunette say whatever was on her mind. It didn’t matter. She just liked being with Jade, who made her feel safe and secure, who made her insides feel all mushy.   
It was like they’d known each other forever, despite having only known each other for two months or so.   
“Sorry I’m late,” Perrie looked up and smiled when she saw Jade. “I was held up by my roommate. She couldn’t find her eyeliner.”   
“You didn’t have to come,” Perrie said, surprised.   
“But I want to.” Jade was already heading towards the stacks. “Come on.”   
Perrie followed her, listening to the squeaks their shoes made on the floor. Jade had already settled down on her parka with two books next to her. Perrie sat down on the floor next to the brunette and snuggled into her comfortably. “So what are we reading today?”   
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Jade replied, oblivious to Perrie’s dumbstruck expression. She turned around when Perrie said nothing, and blushed when she realised how close they were. “What?”   
“I thought you hated Shakespeare.”   
“I do,” Jade chewed on her lip and pushed up her glasses. “He’s stupid.”   
“Why are you reading it then?” Perrie reached over Jade for the other book. “Hamlet? Really?”   
Jade just sort of shrugged. “W-Well I-I-I thought y-you l-liked it so-”   
Perrie just stared at her with a growing smile.   
“What,” Jade said, feeling self conscious. She could almost feel Perrie leaning in, as if she was about to-   
Oh. What surprised Jade was how soft Perrie’s lips were. And how they tasted like peach chapstick. And how Perrie’s nose brushed against hers. And how the whole experience made her weak at the knees. Jade would’ve collapsed if she wasn’t already sitting on the ground, if Perrie’s arms weren’t securely wrapped around her waist.   
Perrie pulled back, her head tilted to the side as she tried to read Jade’s expression. For the first time, Jade saw the nervousness and hesitance on Perrie’s face. “Are you having a seizure?”   
Jade scrunched up her nose, and Perrie giggled at how adorable it was. “No...at least, I don’t think so.”  
Perrie grinned and let Jade climb into her lap. Fascinated, Jade traced the gentle slope of Perrie’s shoulder to the curve of the blonde’s waist before pressing her lips to Perrie’s again. Jade wrapped her legs around Perrie’s waist until they were pressed up against each other with no space between their bodies, and Perrie hummed in satisfaction as Jade’s teeth skimmed over her lip before the tanned girl nibbled on it softly, still admiring how gentle Perrie was with her.   
Perrie rested her fingers on the thread of sun-kissed skin between the hem of Jade’s shirt and waistband. “If you’re straight, just tell me and I’ll back off.” She had a teasing grin on her face, and she could practically feel the blood rising to Jade’s cheeks.   
“I-I don’t even know what I am anymore,” Jade mumbled, and traced her fingers over the contours of Perrie’s face. “You’re so pretty.” Her lips had a small pout to them, and Perrie leaned forward and pecked Jade on the mouth.   
“Stop pouting, you’re pretty too.” The kiss they shared was short and sweet and full of promises.   
“I’ll agree, but only if you agree to go out for pizza with me tonight.” Jade sent Perrie a shy little smile and adjusted her glasses.   
Perrie just shrugged, although the affection in her eyes was obvious. “That was so smooth.”   
Jade just blushed again.


End file.
